Rebuild the Capital Wasteland
by JonScoe
Summary: The war is over. As the ashes cool down a new mission starts. The Wasteland needs to be rebuilt V.2 of a story I started on...7...years ago.
1. Prologue

Chapter 1 Prologue:

The smoke from the fires had died out on the ruins of what once was the capital of the greatest human empire. The war between to different collective remains had been fulfilled with the Brotherhood standing. The Conclave was no more. Driven into the annal of history in the same category as Hitler and Stalin. All thanks to one man.

He was called the Lone Wanderer, the savior of The capital wasteland. From the steps of The Jefferson Memorial, he looked out on the tranquility that had set on the capital basin.

The year and a half since he escaped from the Vault have changed the Wasteland. The wind of change was in the air. The gigantic turbines that pumped out fresh, non-radioactive water into the Basin made a weeping sound at it filtrated the mistakes from the old world. It would take some time before the non-radioactive water was gone, but no at least fresh water was not a luxury for the few, but a right for everyone. But that was not all. For the first time could innocent bystanders scavenge the ruins without a big risk of meeting mutants or other things that wanted to kill them.

A lot had changed. The raiders were afraid of entering the monolithic ruins of the Capital, the tales of the Lone Survivor had given the area an almost religious presence, a presence of fear, a presence of judgment on those who corrupt humanity. They had slowly withdrawn back the desert.

The Super Mutants had also been quiet for the period, and why shouldn't they? In the big picture, they realized they were playing the part of the small time grunts. It did not require much intellectual capacity to understand that brute force was no match to the technological superiority of man. Seeing a gigantic robot walking around the streets shooting laser beams out of its eyes was also demoralizing. They had not withdrawn from the area, but for the first time, they must have realized that they were not the predators they thought they were. Their raids became less frequent and their barricades stronger in the small stronghold they had established.

From the oasis, seeds blow up in the wastelands and for the first time, you could see grass blooming some places. In a season or two people for the first time would see flowers, this was truly the age of a new era. But it does not mean that there were no problems. Still, the slavers of Paradise falls kidnapped random people and sold them. Even though the Pitt had been closed they always found a route to skip them too. Rumors had it that they were co-operating with the slavers, effectively splitting the wasteland into two.

But with the enclave in ruins, the super mutant threat almost over and a strong Brotherhood, for the first time there was a chance to create a civilization here. And it had already started.

The Brotherhood of Steel had been the De-facto rulers of the former Capital, and they could appreciate the benefits of peace and having a society. Therefore they started patrolling the areas around the Mall. In the wasteland, there was no place more secure. In all fairness, it was not that difficult to claim the title. Unfortunately, they were stretched thin. Not at least due to the flow of refugees arriving in the area, looking for sanctuary from the threat of the world. Often some raiders tried to blend in with them and a few cases attacking head on the Brotherhood patrols. It was called suicide by stupidity.

The Lone Wanderer took another sip of the beer. One of the few luxury items he had allowed himself to join the last months. His white skin recently being free from the dirt of the wasteland he took the opportunity to relax for a moment.

"Elder Lyons is ready," said a voice behind him as soon as the last drop of the beer was finished.

War, War never changes, but with Peace, anything could happen. What power was the strongest? He stepped down and went into the Memorial, the sun slowly rising from the mountains.


	2. The New Dawn

Chapter 2: The rebuilding starts here!

The Jefferson Memorial was considered as the most neutral place to meet. Some people did not like the walls and armored Brotherhood stronghold of the citadel and saw it as a symbol of oppression that the Brotherhood could rule as feudal lords from. As soon as the Shockwave of destruction from Adams Air Force base had passed the vacuum of power raised in the Wastelands. First, there were silent tensions. The people of Megatron feared Veritbirds in the sky and demands of bending to the will of the Citadel. The Vertibirds never arrived. In the power vacuum, there were three major forces in play. The Brotherhood of Steel who by all means was the only superpower in terms of the military in the area. The City of Rivet that provided vital infrastructure, a steady food source and flow of non-violent tech, and Megaton, a city of prospectors, scavengers, and hunters. What they lacked in firepower and technology they took back in Manpower and civilized culture. The one thing they all had in common was The Lone Wanderer. For Megatron he had disarmed the nuclear bomb, saving them for destruction, Rivet had increased both food production and beefed up security thanks to him, and his accomplishment for the Brotherhood spoke for themselves.

In many senses, the trust in TLW was the only thing that connected them. And that trust made them sit down for regular security meetings between them. If nothing else they realized they had common enemies.

Fortunately, the same people were also curious to see the first beacon of hope, visualized in the clean water pumping out from pipes and made the travels to the Jefferson Memorial. After securing the place, the Brotherhood brought in some generators that made it light and easy around the area, cleaned up the rubble and put in a carpet here and there. Some of the rooms even got a paint job. The lower areas were also cleaned up and was being the living quarters for some of the Brotherhoods technician that wanted to study and maintain the place. Two Brotherhood of Steel soldiers now referred to as the Steels guarded the area with laser rifle gun in the standby position.

TLW entered an office where five people waited for him. They were Elder Lyons, the leader of the Brotherhood and the nearest the place came to a Leader. Sheriff Simms of Megatron, the leader in everything but the name for the second biggest settlement of the Wasteland. There was also Gared, The leader of the board of Rivet City and Santiago, leader of the Regulators and Hannibal Hamlin, a man that had founded the Union, an organization that gave escaped slaves a haven, and there were more and more of them arriving for all over the place. He had a colony of 63 runaway slaves camping around the Lincoln Memorial alone. This was also starting to be a problem since slaves attracted slavers, and he only had 10 men capable of handling a combat situation. Two times had the slavers tried to attack the camp, but both times had they been rebuffed by the surroundings and gave up before they even came to camp. Had not the Brotherhood scouts seen them they would never have noticed the slavers coming.

" Welcome, we were just waiting for you," said Lyons greeting TLW who sat down at the end of the table. They were now all gathered in a horseshoe formation around a table that once was a boardroom for some people that once lived with small problems like not returning enough equity for shareholders.

Elder Lyons started speaking. He was an old man, but still pretty in shape and clear-minded, he was the leader of the Brotherhood and was a man that had great power around the wasteland. His white hair was almost balding and the white beard showed sympathy and wisdom that stretched from the one side of the continent to another.

" Thanks for showing up for the third of this security meeting for the Capital Wasteland. I will begin by summary up the briefings for our patrols the last month." Lyons took up some papers from the desk. Written on a typewriter from the last century by the scribes.

" First of all, we are starting to notice the change the water has on the local wildlife. As we mentioned in the last report, the encounters with Mimelurks has dropped dramatically. Our scouts report that they are no longer hatching eggs at regular hotspots around the basin, and the male ones seem more aggressive while the females more disdained. We believe this is due to that they can not handle clean water and therefore does not have a steady source of it. Or scouts believe that within a short time the Mimelurks will be extinct from the region. All though its good news for our safety it also means that we lose a food source." Lyons took a sip from the Aqua Pura bottle in front of him.

TLW understood it would be a problem in the future. Mimelurk meet was good and nutritious food that would be hard to replace in the diet of the Wastelanders. He wrote down the word "breeding?" on a notepad for a future discussion.

" We can also report a big increase of refugees coming from...basically everywhere. Last week alone over 400 people arrived Runaway slaves, scavenger and refugees from all the eastern seaboard. We do believe that GNR news can be picked up from a larger area then we previously expected. Currently, they are settling around the Mall where we can provide perimeter security for the area. However, the lack of any form of an order has brought several deaths and injuries between the refugees in the camp. The need for policing the area itself must be discussed in the future."

TLW remembered the first day after the Adams Air Force base was destroyed. Three-Dog had made a radio broadcast and sung karaoke of the former US national anthem for all to hear while proclaiming that the Capital Wasteland was the safest place in the area. A couple of hours later the first refugees came. A family of four that had their home sacked by raiders. An emergency decision was made by Lyons to give them a tent on the large open area around the Washington Monument. Then the second family came, then some scavengers. Before a day was over a small tent city was established. Some people wanted to take vacancy in the big ruins of buildings but was denied as they had not been cleaned. The Brotherhood would not give recruitment to the Super Mutants living in their nests in some forgotten part of a large block.

"Furthermore I can say that the Jefferson Memorial is producing clean water above expectations and we can conclude that shortage is not gonna be a problem in the foreseeable future." Concluded Lyons.

It was Gared who first spoke. "Rivet City has increased their production of vegetables with 200% since the last meeting, but we still experience that the food is still not enough to feed our own people and especially not the whole of Wasteland, our first priorities must be to increase the food production if we are to expand."

" I agree, Megatron food supply is depended on caravans, and even though its much safer on the caravan routes its too risky. We need to find other solutions so we do not have a food crisis." Simms shouted in.

Sims had his own problems. Moriarty, the man who owned the bar in Megaton had tried to influence the people there to go independent and not cooperate. But thanks to the free distribution of basic medicine and water from the Brotherhood, and the elimination of the Atomic bomb threat made it possible for Simms to get enough support to implement Megaton in the co-operation of securing the Wasteland.

" The wasteland was a no-mans land for 200 years, and people still managed to survive, they will not mind survive some months while we create a stable government and create something that at least looks like as a civilization." Elder Lyons counted.

"Barely, how many children have died because of food starvation, and to create stability and safety we need to make sure that they have a full belly and their limbs working.." It was Santiago that took the word. She had replaced Sonora Cruz as the leader of the vigilante group Regulators after Sonora suddenly started running into the Wasteland for never return again.

After the fall on Enclave, they had helped the brotherhood to clean up the remaining Enclave forces and created a bond between the two organizations. Raiders activity had decreased since the start of the cooperation and was being pushed further away from the capital ruins.

" The solution is easy, we need to breed Brahims, if we can create an economy where I think it can solve the problem until we can fertilize the fields. The stool from them proves excellent fertilizers." Hamlin spoke for the first time." I agree, but it takes time and where do we use the ground. It's only inside the ruins that Brotherhood forces have full control." Lyons asked.

" We have an area from Megaton to Citadel that we could easily control and is flat with patches of green, with the extinction of Marmelurks, there are no threats there," Simms said.

" I do not agree with that assessment. Although the Marmelurks are dying out there is still natural wildlife that is too dangerous for the average traveler. Any build up of pastures and fields need to come with armed men to eradicate those problems." The words came from TLW. He had traveled many times between Megaton to Capital Wasteland ruins and Marmelurks was the least of the problems there. There was still some raiders activity in the city of Grayditch.

" If we ignore the problem of the wildlife in the area, is it theoretically possible to build up an agriculture infrastructure in the wildlife?" asked Lyons.

" I can use some of my men to capture loose Brahmins, there are not tons of them, but if we capture them and buys some of the caravans I think we can have a sustainable population of them." Santiago was clear and loud.

" And how much will this costs?" Lyon asked.

" I can have 15 of my men working in three groups of five, and we, of course, need some materials and manpower to build the pen and buildings.".

" The material can we fix, we take from the ruins here and fly it over." Lyons proposed.

The Lone wanderer remembered that after Adams Air force base was destroyed and the Enclave crushed, The brotherhood suddenly had an armada of over 20 Vertibirds to their disposal. That gave them air superiority and created indestructible supply lines to the different cities around. Still, they did not have the manpower to fight against the Slavers and Talon as boots on the ground was still needed.

The silence went across the room. TLW nodded of approval to Lyons.

" Good, it is settled then. On too the next topic, the security forces. With our Knights, Rivet city security, and different loyal military forces we have about 300 soldiers, but only 200 of them are properly trained. My calculations show to maintain the safety perimeter we need at least 100 more."

" Do we also have problems with equipment, guns?" asked Simms.

"Fortunately no, The power armor is of course not allowed outside the Brotherhoods forces, but we raided an old national guard armory, we have thousands of combat uniforms and assault rifles, but we don't have the persons to fill them. My suggestions are that we use Reilly and her Rangers as drill instructors and use one of the abandoned Raiders camps to practice." Lyons had it all planned. "There is a raider camp about half a click away from the Washington Monument that is big enough to also accommodate an improvised shooting range. We cleaned it up some days ago. I will send some men to clean and build up the area."

"Sounds like a good idea, but how long will it take to train them properly?" asked Santiago.

" Yes, Reilly said that she could have 50 men in shape and qualified for battle in 4-5 months time. After that, we could have a regular flow of soldiers ready monthly. What I need from you are volunteers too be the first ones to go into the training."

"I can send some of the lazy deadbeats that do nothing in Rivet, and 5-6 of my guards to keep them in shape and help out with the training." Gared wrote something in his notes so that he would not forget this.

" Then lets waste no time discussing this, I can also send some men over," Simms added.

" Agreed, and now onto the most important agenda for today. The fortification of the Mall." Lyons took up a big map and layed it onto the table.

" As we discussed last time, The mall and the area around is where we should start with civilizing the wasteland. The scouts have mapped the area into every single detail and have come up with this suggestion for the fortifications." The map had a red line that implemented the fortification line, it went all around the mall and was cut into a bottleneck after two blocks to the south so you had a direct line to Rivet City.

" We can create a fortification by controlled explosions of old buildings around, and other places have a fence around, the same way we have on the Washington Memorial. The problem is to create a strong enough, and at the same time a good closing point.

" What about the subways," Gared asked.

" That's a good idea. We can basically create a welcome zone in one of the subway stations. Many of them have dual entrances on each side of a building, and they are also easy to fortify. As long as you get rid of the ghouls" Lyons turned his eyes against TLW.

"Okay, you have me convinced," The lone wanderer said for the first time. "Only one question"

"Yes?" Lyons asked.

"Can I blow something up?"


	3. The walls of tomorrow

TLW slept little that night, for the first time he did not think about survival but about the future. He had lost his father a year ago, and his mother when he was born. He was refused entry back to the vault, who had gone dark after the Enclave defeat. He was alone. His companions Cross and Fawkes had died throughout the fight against the enclave and the younger Lyons had vanished as a new threat emerged in the east. A threat that was many years away but had to be taken seriously, but still a threat.

But he was not sad, he enjoyed seeing people actually living and just not survive. He saw the tents around the mall and children playing together, free of fear, at least for the moment. This was what they were fighting for and this was what they were building a new world for.

As the first ray of the new day hit the vanishing marble on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, people went to work. From the Citadel a Vertibird carrying a dozen of soldiers took off, heading towards an empty camp not far away from the ruins. Their job would be an unpleasant one for the next days. The corpses must have been rotten down now. To remove them would demand buckets more than body bags. Afterward, a small perimeter fence needed to be sat up and schedules set for the new forward base.

TLW used the day a little bit different. The first hours went to meet the task group lead by a young scribe named Miguel and his group of engineers. They started surveying the areas where they could create bottlenecks and close streets that lead directly into the wasteland. It was a difficult task, the streets were a maze, with decades of debris had created natural barriers some places, but also opened up new open areas. However, the positive part was that, except a small rat that was easily killed off, there were no enemies in the street. No raiders, no beasts, no Super Mutants. The biggest enemies were the solitude and the sheer amount of work needed to put up a natural place for habitation and civilized society.

As they arrived at a local corner Miguel stopped and looked at his map. It was pulled out on one of the cinderblocks, and after a short moment where he recalibrated his position on the map, he marked the corner on his map with a red pen.

"This is as far as we go northwards," he said while giving a nod to one of the soldiers, who immediately took up a spray can and marked it with a large X.

"We can move diagonally all the way to the river on the west and east towards the capitol building which is already heavily fortified. The collapse of the E 395 highway makes it a natural southern barrier until the basin, where we take control through other security measures."

"So the problems are the northern ruins?" TLW asked.

" Indeed, the city was build in a square formation on swampy ground. The buildings have corroded making it difficult to make them natural barriers, in many places we just have to find the same blocks that we used to fortify the Washington Monument to close the streets between the buildings. In other places, a controlled explosion will do the trick."

" So where do we start?" TLW asked

" Our biggest problem is the ruins of the former white house. It was hit directly under the Great War. Much radiation and even more ghouls. We need to build the barricades either around it or back of it."

"That will be the last problem, let us first recognize the street." Miguel agreed and they started continuing marking the end spots, where the Barricade would be set up. Most parts of the sunlight went away on the job, but in the end, TLW was positively surprised. It was naturally blocked in many areas due to debris, making it much less work than what was feared. However, the many buildings that were still standing posed a problem. They needed to be barricaded from the first and second floor and in some cases being manned as guard posts. Before that again it had to be cleared. Ghouls, bugs, and even super mutants that could live in the area.

After a short lunch, he went to the day's second task. Dupont Station was the station that was set to be the official gate to the Wasteland, but before that, it needed to be cleared out. Metro stations were always crawling with ghouls. The engineer at site, another young man with the name David had expressed wishes to set up a double gate fortification with two guard towers on each side. TWL responded that all to come in time while he prepared himself. He had accepted the request to help the cleanup team that was to secure the station. There were 2 demolition experts from Reilly Rangers, veterans that had seen battle several times over. They were supported by 10 other soldiers. TLW had gone through the battle plans late last night with them. 10 was enough, any more and there would be more chances of blue on blue than killing Ghouls. The plan was simple. First to clean up the stations for enemies, afterward to block the metro tunnels trough controlled explosions. It would hopefully not take more than a couple of hours.

TLW checked his shotgun rifle. The Ghouls hunted in a pack and would be in same compact space, so a weapon that could spread the most damage in close quarters would be best.

" Okay, everybody ready? Everything is equipped, we have three entrances that need to be shut, don't wanna come back here before we are done."

"Check"

"Check"

"Check!"

"Okay then, let's go."

The group lined up in two lines with TLW first on the left one. David opened the locked gate and they walked into the darkness the abandoned station represented.

The subway tunnels were not so dangerous as they used to be. Lots of traffic the last year had almost killed off the Feral ghouls that were living down there. Still, there were many hundred kilometers of abandoned subway tracks, stretching far beyond the area they now called the mall. Therefore it could never be sure that they would exterminate all threats. So the next solution was to seal the whole area. The first ghouls came already out from the bathroom but were quickly blown to pieces by the shotgun of TLW. Ten seconds later several more came running, triggered by the noise. In a coordinated fashion, they were all dead before they came 2 meters close. The efficiency made this a massacre, not a battle. Within they had reached the lower platforms and jumped on the tracks there were at least 50 dead ghouls laying around.

They went deep into the tunnels, away from the more popular stops and down to the ones that were never used. After 20 minutes of walking, they stopped. If it hasn't been for the lights on TLWs pip-boy it would be pitch black. One of the soldiers marked their route with chalk on designated places so that would not get lost. TLW watched the Pip-boy, they were at the designated place. He raised his fist, signalizing the rest of the group to stop.

"This is the place, guys. Do what you are supposed to do." The demolition experts went to work. They carefully examined the two tunnels, one used for each direction of the subway line.

"This will take some minutes, make sure nobody is attacking me," one of them said. TLW nodded. "Okay, you, you and you" he pointed randomly on three of them, "go on the other tunnel, and cover him, V formation with center guards covering backtrack. Safety off, if you see anything moving you fire! Rest of you with me."

The group split up and TLW took the position in the center between the two guards. The demolition experts started packing out their backs and carefully placed small, maybe A4 paper shaped C4 bombs in a small arch around the tunnel.

"Watch out!" one of the soldiers said loud at the same moment he saw two Ghouls came running against them. They were horrible creatures and TLW often has philosophical thoughts if they still were human somewhere inside those shells of monsters. These things had lived here since the bomb fell.

" Got them" TLW shouted and took up his Erlinger A3 rapid fire gun from his holster. He took a deep breath, concentrated and entered what he liked to call a Very Agitated Trance Stance mode. A state of mind that almost stopped the time and give him all the time in the world to aim.

It was a gift he has had since birth. He could not explain it, so therefore never told anyone about it. It was like he could calculate the damage and see where the bullet would hit. It had saved him more than one occasion.

They ghouls still came running, but not for long. TLW pulled the trigger, 6 bullets, 3 for each of the enemies, both fell on the ground lifeless.

" Still got it," he said slowly as the rest of the group lowered their aim and kept working.

"Hurry up, who knows who heard us! he shouted to the demolition expert, that just returned the message with a cold gaze.

After 5 minutes the set up was done. "Okay, I have enough C4 to create full rubble at least 5 meters wide. Nobody will pass through here even with missiles" one of them said while handing over a detonator to TLW.

The group took some steps back.

"Fire in the hole" TLW said with a low voice while he pushed the button.

The blast was in two stages. The first was a small detonation between the side-charge before the main charge made a blasting noise that could be heard all the way to the Commonwealth.

Then all the ground above fell down and filled the hole. It took a minute before the dust settled and the sight to the massive wall could be seen. The line had efficiently been sealed on the one end. Two hours later they had marched, killed of ghouls and done the same on the other side of the line, effectively hermetically sealing the line and creating the only way in through the metro stations. As the walked back to Dupont Station they were meet with another group of 20 soldiers, scribes and workers cleaning up the stations. The other group of the soldiers was preparing to go vanguard down the line, cleaning up the rest of the line for enemies. If everything went according to plan the subway lines would be completely safe by the end of the day.

It was early afternoon when TLW dismissed the group of soldiers and sent them to a well-deserved meal and rest. The were some Steels guarding the entrance and some scribes listening to David while they took notes.

"So we need to build a barricade around the entrance on the other side, strong enough to stop grenades and explosives and with a gate that can be shut down in a moment notice. The plan is to take in people, let them wait on the lower platforms of the metro stations while we register them and do a health check on them, so I want several more lights to..."

TLW stopped listening. Decorating was not his favorite subject. He started to go back to the Lincoln Memorial. It was then he noticed a lot of more civilians on the street, working. Two young men were looking through a pile of rubble and inspecting what they found. They throw rocks in one pile, but other things into a garbage bin. On the other side, several men were working to clear a street corner from rubble and stones, under the guidance of a soldier.

TLW walked to one of the soldiers that were guarding the area. "What is happening here, why are people working here?" TLW asked.

"Elder Lyons orders. If we are going to offer protection, the refugees have to work. Most of them are starting to remove rubble from around the mall. Some with special skills are helping with the barricades and construction and some is scavenging with armed soldiers."

Smart move, with so many refugees working, the Mall would be rubble-free in no time TLW thought. As he walked further down the street and closer to the mall he could see more and more people working. Even some Steels were using their enchanted carrying capacity to remove the large debris from the streets, clearing paths and connecting the buildings. A big tent was also set up near the Washington Monument where people stood in line for food and water. In some places, they were even cutting the weed away from the grass, born from the seeds of the tree once called Howard.

Maybe Hannibal was back at the Memorial, even though he spent more and more time in the mall, talking to former slaves, arranging for them too get treatment for their mental and physical wounds and sometimes he was lucky enough too tell some of them what happened to their family, even though it was often not good news to tell.

He was impressed by the statue of Lincoln. Caleb had attached the head to Lincolns body, but the rest of the memorial was still in bad shape, or at least it was. The holes on the wall were being fixed, the sandbags were removed and the stairs cleaned and dirt removed. It would never be as it was in its former glory, but we're starting to be impressive according to this apocalyptic standard. He walked up steps and saw Caleb working on a list along with several other people.

"Hi Caleb, how is it going?"

Caleb turned around and looked at TLW.

" Long time, no see. It's still going here. Lyons has ordered us to register all the people living here and create a census of the population, so we are pretty busy."

"I won't bother you for long then, Have you seen Hannibal?" TLW

" Yes, he is in the memorial room."

"Okay, need to talk to him, I see you later."

" Yeah, catch you later," Caleb answered and put his eyes down on the papers in front of him.

"This person is dead according to the witness I just spoke to, but I believe this is her brother," Caleb said to one of the other assistants, pointing to a name on the paper he was looking at.

TLW walked down the stairs again and went into the door at the bottom of the memorial.

Hannibal was sitting down and reading when he saw TLW. He stood up and shook his hands when he saw him.

"Done for today?" he asked.

"Yes, there is only one line out of The mall with the subway lines now. And there is already a control post established there. So we are safer than we were yesterday.

"Good, good. It's hard to believe that we can create a civilized life again in the ruins of once a great city. I have read much about how it was before the bombs fell, and it's hard to imagine a life with order and law."

"We will bring it back," TLW said.

" I hope you are right. I have seen a lot, and there is no guarantee against evil, and where there are humans to enslave there are Paradise Falls slavers who will try to do that.

" When we are ready we clear the place from the map." TLW was clear in his voice.

"And kill the hundred of slaves captured and held there. I hope not."

" Well, at least it is a problem for tomorrow. They are not strong to attack us and we are not strong enough to attack them. A form of peace."

" You are right, and as people start coming here it would be harder and harder for them to capture humans.

A silent boom was heard, the ground was shaking a little bit and a book fell from the ground.

" What was that?" TLW asked while he started to move to the exit.

" Don't you remember. They had to have a controlled explosion of the Maxwell Building to create the perimeter barrier".

TLW did remember now. The building was vital for the project if they could make it fall in the right direction it would create a wall that blocked several blocks of compromised entry points.

As the night came TLW felt exhaustion he never felt before. It was not of war, but of productive sweat and the knowledge that tomorrow would be a little bit easier. For the first time, he washed only sweat, and not blood from his body, well if you do not count Ghoul blood that is.


	4. The hotel

"What a shithole" TLW stated while he looked at the entrance of Vernon Hotel. It was officially called The Statesman Hotel, but a decision somewhere was taken that I would be named Vernon Hotel since the former name gives too many assumptions to a time long gone. It was the biggest hotel within the Fortification and was now an integral part of the rebuilding process.

It had taken five weeks to complete the barricade around the area known as the Capital Wasteland, but a lot of work had been done in that time. The trenches that were dug in the yard in front of the Capitol building had been filled and there was now a clean green spot that filled the area. From the north side, most of the streets had been cleaned making easy to go from one place to another, and the entrance at Dupont Station had worked perfectly, attracting more people from all over the Wasteland, increasing the population to over 4000. There was still work to do on the south side barrier. The clean up had taken longer time than expected as both Super Mutants, raiders and other dangerous creatures were still lurking in the many corners, but the clear road to the Rivet City and the Citadel was patrolled enough to make it relatively safe as long as you did not take a shortcut into the unsafe corners, which some people did. At least 12 people were missing with another 5 found dead. One was being used as food for a hungry super mutant.

There were also some war losses. A group of raiders had attacked the entry gate to Dupoint head on, over 30 was killed but 5 guards also perished in the attack. After that, the walls were reinforced with the barriers that earlier surrounded the Washington Monument, along with an electronic gate and several turrets. The Raiders had not been attacking since and most likely would not. Some of the many groups must have scouted and understood that the Capital Wasteland was off limits.

It was not only in the area at the Capitol Wasteland progress could be seen. On the other side of the river some people starting to seek their fortune as farmers. Guided by the Steels they got some acres of the land that was slowly transforming into fertile grounds due to the combination of clean water and the seeds from the oasis that was spreading all over the wasteland. Now fences to keep scorpion out and barns to keep Brahmin in was slowly set up around the area.

It would not take long before a business of Brahim breeding could be done. and hopefully, the first corn stalks would poop out before soon also. Megaton had already starting to accommodate the growth with tearing down the east side of their wall and building a new district with a Brahim cattle marketplace.

"For now, yes. But soon it will be a place where people can live." The women next to him said. Her name was Jen and was the nearest The mall came to an architect. As most wastelanders, she was thin, undernourished and with dirty skin after years of hard work and biting dust. However as TLW had noticed in several people, her grey brownish eyes had a spark of hope in them that made her more than just a random person, she was one of the few that got the small flame of hope turned on.

She was the nearest thing this wasteland had when it came to architecture. Her parents, some scavengers, had brought back some books about it when she was young and spent her spare time too read and learn enough to understand the basic concepts. In the years afterward, she was a person people came to when a shelter was to be set up, or a fence was to be built.

She arrived at the Mall with her family as soon as they heard the Radio broadcast and wrote down architectural engineering in the skills section of her entry registration. It took some weeks before a scribe read it and understood the meaning of such a long and difficult word, in wasteland standards.

The last months she had been cooperating with The brotherhoods engineers and scribes, and they become a valuable resource for each other. Where the scribes expertise mostly had been in electric engineering and, Jens passion had been about visual design and efficiencies, a welcome aspect among the traditionalist culture of the Brotherhood where the main questions had been if it can kill or if it can protect. Now she was being put in charge of the non-defense building structure of the area.

" Are you sure, last time I was here, there were holes everywhere, along with the blood of dozen of mutants," TLW muttered, remembering the long walk around the corridors, always a mutant guarding it. A couple of days ago the Steels had gone room to room to clean it out, a part of the project to clean up the area. A big X was tagged on the front door to symbolize it had been cleaned out.

" Yes, I checked the ground floor inside and out, and it stands solid," Jen answered to TLW statement.

" It needs some reinforcements here and there. But before the bombs fell, all the buildings in this area were built with the purpose of being able to stand if a small nuclear bomb would detonate. Of course, no building could stand a direct hit" Jen paused and took a quick glance in the direction of the former white house that was now just a crater. "But with luck, some survivors could find shelter here and there. So, it's shitty and needs some serious work on the fundament around the supporting pillars, but it is an easier job than expected to build it to accommodate people.

" You are the expert," TLW said. "So what's the plan."

" First of all, I need the workforce to remove blood parts, skeletons, weapons and things that do not belong in a hotel," Jen said while looking at her clipboard, full of her notes and list over things that needed to be done.

" I think that the bodies of dozen of super mutants still are in the hall. And they were killed over a year ago. There are at least 40 of them on the roof alone. It will take ages to remove them and the stand has probably attached itself to the walls." TLW remembered the hectic battle with the Rangers, trying to hold the Supermutants at bay.

" Therefore we have this," Jen said and pointed to four white barrels with Abrexo logo carved into the side.

" Extreme disinfectant, we need to spray it everywhere. It was found in the storage area of the Abrexo facility outside of the city. It has been tested and it removes blood stains like nothing. For the bodies I have required five steels that will use their laser rifles to dust the bodies."

TLW was impressed, for the first time he actually believed that the hotel could be renovated, and if they could renovate this building, they could also build things from scratch again.

"Did you manage to start producing cement again?" TLW asked

"Yes, with the help of brotherhood and some highly improvised mixer we are actually producing a large enough quantity for renovating this place," Jen answered.

"Then, let us start." TLW smiled.

It took the Steels the better part of the day to check every corner of the hotel. Many of the bodies had decomposed and its large amounts of Laser ammo was used to change it to dust. The reason living bodies often had a big chance of being cremated when hit by a laser beam was that a hit created a chain reaction in the blood vessels that boiled the blood to several thousand degrees and practically cremated them from the inside, a dead body did not have a running bloodstream. Often you could shoot a leg and only the leg would burn.

But it was an obstacle, not a problem.

At first sight of the night, they came out and declared themselves done. Jen who had a tent raised right outside then ordered a workforce of 30 refugees to go inside. With them, they had former fuel tanks that were modified to spray the disinfectant. TLW, on the other hand, had volunteered to work with the people that were reinforcing the ground of the hotel. He was surprised to see the large amounts of material needed to secure the building, but the workers were professional. They had gone through a two days course with Caleb on simple techniques on how to use cement and they have learned. As they reinforced the pillars in the basement and worked they way upwards, going room to room, TLW could not notice to feel a sense of accomplishment. The difference was night and day.

Cracks on the fundament were quickly repaired and soon it starts to look professional out and not at least safe. TLW stroke his hand on the newly drywall on the third floor and feel the smooth caving mixed with the smell of something new. How long was it something was built here?

At midnight the workers were done with the first run. TLW inspected the place with Jen he was impressed. Gone were the blood stains and the dirt and replaced with shining floors and smooth walls. The crack and holes on floor, walls, and ceilings were gone, replaced with dried cement and other ways to fill them. After the last repair, the stairs were demolished, too rotten or too broken. New ones were already being built. Some lightbulbs shinned up the area, coming from a generator in the basement. Electricity would be a problem in the future, but not a problem for today. TLW went into one of the empty square rooms. The window had been replaced, with a new one from another place in the city. There was enough non-broken glass in the city, but when they ran out they needed to make more, also in the future.

" Its only first rounds. Tomorrow we will make all the rooms like this. They will go another round and then we will start with repairs on the sewage and the furniture. We will need some wood, that we will get from scavenging the ruins outside of the perimeter. In the long run, I hope we can establish a trade route down to the areas where trees grow."

The next day started as the last one ended, The workforce went another round with the disinfectant and then started with removing glass shards from broken windows and broken doors and rubble. Then another round of disinfectant of the areas. The whole operation took three more days. After that, they would start with furniture the rooms. It would be very attractive rooms, even though the bathrooms would not work for quite a while. The sewage system was many years ahead in time. The rooms would be given in priority to families with small children. A warm room, warmed by the flames of the basement oven they fixed, along with security and a comfortable bed would make the difference in the world. n

In the meantime, TLW went back to the Mall. Things had changed. The streets were clear of rubble and the water on the pond replaced with fresh water. It had to be drained manually with buckets and filled again with buckets, but was worth it. The water basin was now full of clear water. The wall around the Washington Monument was removed, but the holes were still there. It was not the easiest thing too repair holes on a monument 20 meter above the ground with this technology they had. The tents around the Mall were also still there, but the anarchy was gone. The steels had ordered the telt being put up in lines and giving names to the street that went between them. A sewage drench that went to a non-spoiled part of the basin was also being created. Volunteer guards walked with steels on patrols and in the middle of the tent area was a big open space with long tables. The security council had given some people license to open street vendors where people could buy food outside of their rations. which meant again that hunters had started to poach meat from the wildlife outside of the area. It was not the biggest problem for now. The wildlife was overflooding and in no danger of being extinct yet. One vendor even had Deathclaw meat on the menu. Selling for 500 bottlecaps a piece.

When TLW passed the Space museum he could see the curator Washington angrily yelling at two people who had a large object in their arms.

"What is the problem here?" TLW asked.

" Oh, I am so glad you are here," Washington said.

" These people here tried to steal from the museum, a traitorous act against history."

" We did not steal, all we wanted was to use some the things instead of letting them rot here." one of the civilians protested.

"You tried to take the wheels of the first lunar module ever landed on the moon!"

"Okay we are sorry for that, we just wanted to make a cart so we could more easily transport goods through the mall."

"Traitors!"

"Okay, Abraham, they did apologize." TLW tried to calm the situation, knowing that his word has power in society.

"But they have no plans to return it, do you? You tried to sneak it out soi would not see it!

" Is that true?" TLW asked one of the scavengers.

" Yes, we need it to transport bricks from the cement mixer to the Vernon Hotel,"

" Abraham, the work is done within a week, long before you are done with the museum, can they borrow it until then?" TLW asked.

" I suppose" Abraham muttered...

"Thanks!" one of the men said. leaving the area quickly with the wheels.

"It has a significant historical value," Abraham said almost silently.

" What good would that do if we are all extinct?" TLW answered, there was only silence for an answer.

When TLW did return back to Vernon Hotel the next day, the area was changed. Outside there a workplace were workers was measuring and cutting up trees, storing bricks and there was also a primitive cement mixer there. He found Jen inside the building watching the workers repairing a hole on the third floor.

" How is it going?" he asked.

"Better than good. We have fixed the problems with the circuits so every room has adequate light, and to all surprise, the pipes still worked in almost every one of the rooms. I measured the radioactivity off the water and it's next to zero, it must be connected to the basin. The only big thing left before decorating is to remove the mast on the second floor. The one that destroyed the wall. The only problem is the thing is really big, its almost impossible to remove it."

" I can help you with that, I worked a guy that specializes in things like this."

Two hours later TLW looked at the mast from the ground floor with the same demolition expert that he worked with to seal the subways.

"So what do you think?" he asked.

" A little charge in the middle will break it in two, and gravity will fix the rest. The only backfire is that when the parts split it can destroy the facade of the hotel."

"It will only create some more days of work. do it" TLW said.

Before dawn, everything was set up. The demolition charge was set up and the hotel was evacuated as a security measure.

This time Jen was allowed to be the one pressing the detonator. She was standing at the subway entrance to use it for cover. She pushed the button and a silent blast was heard. The explosion and the shockwave broke the mast into two. Both fell down some seconds later into the street. There was some damage to the wall, but nothing too serious. Better than expected. As soon as the dust settled the workers started clearing the rubble. Within the day it was gone and three days later the wall was repaired.

"I am impressed, it seems like it never was damaged," TLW said as he inspected the new hotel. Jen was proud to show him around the newly renovated building. The whole area was clean and one year ago this would be an extreme luxury.

They had thrown out most of the beds and the doors, but the building itself was repaired as much as it could have been repaired. How would they get the new beds from?

For the time being the military beds from the armory would suffice, but hopefully, the skin from some animals would provide a good excuse for a mattress, but they would have to cross that bridge when they came there.

The elevator was also working and they took the trip to the roof. The sight was beautiful. Some had actually have crossed enemy territory in the north and brought with them flowers from the oasis and used it to decorate the place. The benches were placed around the top while the open space in the middle actually had some tables with chess boards on them.

When the sun hit the golden reflections of the floor it was like there never was an apocalypse. It was truly the dawn of a new era.

"So, what do you think?" Jen asked while drinking a Nuka-Cola. Somehow there was enough of it to go around to drink it when celebrating. "

"As said, you did a good job here, soon there will be people here that could actually call this a home."

"I mean about the mall. We had to use lots of resources to renovate this place, and still, there are many more buildings left. Do you think we can rebuild this place to its former glory?" Jen finished her Nuka-Cola.

TLW had no touched his yet. "I think we can, and I think we will. As long as we never repeat the error of our forefathers, we can do everything."

He congratulated Jen and looked at the watch on the PIP-boy. It was time for the weekly meeting with Lyons.


	5. The medical revolution

"So this is called Brandy?" he asked Lyons as he sipped the brown liquid alcoholic beverage from his crystal glass.

"Yes, not so many bottles left of it, but once in a while, a scavenger sells it to a trader that understands its value and sells it to me. But enough of the brown delight, how does Vernon Hotel stand?"

"Surprisingly well. I was to Tennpenny Tower a year ago, and if you take away the carpets and gold, this is the same if not better standard."

"Good, good, to have a place like that too show it's possible to rebuild is important. But unfortunately, it demanded lots of resources." Lyons finished his drink, thinking about pouring another one.

"You mean the windows, wood, furniture, wires and so on.?" TLW asked.

"Yes, we scavenged at least 6 buildings to get all the materials, we can not improve much more. A whole window itself is a rare sight, and we need hundreds of them shall we fix up everything inside the Perimeter."

TLW knew the problem. He had joined a couple of days ago a scavenger squad in the southern sector. The dangerous one between the Mall and Rivet city. Everything except concrete was damaged. His mind then wandered to the problems of the southern sector.

Unlike the northern perimeter that had been sealed and secured the southern sector was a danger zone still.

The natural fortifications made it difficult for raiders and others to come to the mall, but it also made it difficult to clean up the rubble. Lots of resources had been used just to clear a pathway to Rivet city and even then armed guards were required for the two-hour-long walk.

They had tried the same approach as in the north. However, there were several problems. First of all, there were no natural bottlenecks that could be used as a gate. Second of all, there seemed to be a larger concentration of Super Mutants in the area. Now, several months later after they pacified the northern sector, there were still pockets of resistance, and they had lost men in that combat. Too many men.

"Yes I do concur in that statement, is this the main issue of this weeks meeting?"

"No, not at all. I hope to solve this problem soon by having the scribes at Arlington understand the secrets to produce windows and learn the machines. For the other things, I hear things from my scouts that opening trade routes will solve many of the other problems. No, the problem we need to solve is a more complex one. Tell me, how are the people of Wasteland?"

TLW thought for a second. "They have hope, something that was not possible just a year ago."

"That's good to hear, how about the security situation in the tent village?"

" Better. Much better to be honest. The guards are reporting a clear downward trend in the violence. The reorganization of the camps, the new streetlights in the dark and increase in guards is certainly helping. Not to mention the improvement of the tents itself."

After order was established people understood that looting and crime was no longer a viable option for survival, so intuitively and hard work took over. The tents that first was not more than some shacks become more advanced as the days went by. Fundament was established, irregation dikes were built and sewage lines were dugged. The tents were more properly and sturdy hooked to the ground, with a new layer of tenth cloth kept water out of the tent. Hygiene standards also went up as some people started paving the roads. Furthermore, the goal of moving into a building kept people in line.

The people to live at the Hotel was already picked out. All of them families with small children. 52 families and over 200 people will get a roof over their head.

"Good good, I am glad to hear. Unfortunately, the guards arrested 4 people, 2 for stealing, one for murder and one for rape. Meaning that this month alone we have over 25 people arrested."

" We get over 100 people daily seeking refugee, there is bound to be some bad blood among them," TLW said while taking a sip of water from the glass.

" Indeed, and before we just throw them off the wall or just shoot them, but now I fear that the solution is making it worse for us."

" How so?" TLW asked.

" Exile will most doubly make them go to the nearest raider or slaver group and tell them all they know about this area. Execution has both impractical and moral questions. If we execute a murderer we basically punishing him for breaking our monopoly. Second, a reaction creates an equal reaction against. If we kill one, another man will seek revenge. Third, who will get the honor of the kill, and in what way. Is the punishment death? In that case, the death must come quickly and painless unless we will commit double jeopardy." Lyons stopped to take a breath.

TLW came with a counter-argument " On the other hand we are not comparable to the old world. Moral ethics are not a luxury we can afford yet. I do agree with the banishment, it serves no other purposes than creating a potential future problem, but the death penalty, in society from before we could have this argument, is not about justice. It's about securing the future. The rights of the individual, should it come before the right of society as a whole when we are at this critical phase?"

" It is good questions you ask, with no clear answer, but a problem we still have to face. I will ask you a question. Do murderers deserve to die?"

TLW stopped up, a question that was not an easy one. "In a clear state done by malice, yes I do think so."

"Do rapist deserve to be raped then? Thiefs to get their belongings stolen from? Lyons took a deep breath.

"What is your point?" TLW asked, well knowing that he was building up Lyons argument.

" My point is that In a civilized society, we reject the principle of literally doing to criminals what they do to their victims."

"We are building up a society, the first attempt in 200 years, can we afford the morals of a civilized society when the fabric is just laid?"

"Can we afford not to start a society with the moral fabric of the past? The first seed already corrupted?" Lyon answered.

The silence stretched out in the room.

It took them another 3 hours to discuss it. Although they did not come to a concrete answer to the question they decided to halt the decision. For smaller offenses flogging was acceptable. The rest they had to decide later.

Another point of the agenda was the security situation. Lyons had asked TLW to take a trip to the training outpost that Reilly established many weeks ago to get an update.

TLW walked through the bridge back to The Mall. Three steels greeted him at the way. Even though he did not like it, he admitted that people still needed to give before they could claim. With the Exception of food and water, the Mall was still depending on scavenging, they were not producing anything. He bought a water bottle from one of the Vendors at the Mall and took a sip of it. Clean fresh water for a cap. A new world. He was going in the direction of the open space between The Capitol and the Washington Monument. The area where the Super Mutants once was hiding in the trenches that later was filled in by cement and earth. Now it was an open space used for the Brotherhood as a landing platform for their fleet of Vertibird. One of them was to transport TLW to the training outpost.

The brotherhoods Vertibird was the crown in the arsenal, and right now several of their technicians were going to trough the Adams Air Force base in hope to get some more of the Enclaves birds. They could be used to recognize, transport troops, bombing and supporting outpost securely.

"Welcome on board," the pilot said to TLW as the latter climbed on board. The cockpit was open and placed lower than the seating area. There were a pilot and copilot as crew. TLW sat down in one of the chairs that were placed on the side of the hull.

"Thanks, what's our ETA?"

" 20 minutes," the pilot said while starting up the engine.

TLW enjoyed the ride on a Vertibird. A secure way of travel to high for any rockets and behind bulletproof steel. He felt the lift-off and soon they were on their way.

The Vertibird landed almost 20 minutes on the spot. The heat and dust hit TLW in the eye as soon as he stepped out. He was no longer protected by the walls and buildings of the Capital Wasteland. Now he was in the wasteland.

" Welcome to Fort Ranger!" a familiar voice said. TLW turned around to see Reilly walking towards him, carrying the same military outfit.

" Reilly! How are things?" he asked while giving her a handshake. She smiled at him. Her red hair cut short as a buzzsaw, her body standing tall upwards, but still half a head shorter than TLW. Her Rangers had been an integral part of the new armed forces of the Capital Wasteland, and all of them had roles of trainers for new recruits. Reilly was the general overseer with the responsibility of training them. Brick was the heavy arms sergeant and could actually be spotted at the corner of TLW vision holding a minigun. Donovan was back in the Capital Wasteland helping the engineers with jukeboxes and other electronic compartments while Butcher, as one of the few experienced medics, was giving first aid lessons to the soldiers.

" Great, better than expected, you want the tour maybe?"

TLW accepted the offer and they started talking while walking around the camp. Reilly told him about how the cleanup job took over two days, with over 30 dead raiders needed to be removed. They had thrown them into a mass grave not far away. Not for respect but due to the hazard a decomposed body can make.

Then they barricaded the camp with junk materials and put sentry guards and turrets around the place. There were three attacks on the camp in total afterward. The first two were a group of raiders that was easily repelled and most probably never to return. The last attack though was from the Talon Company. The mercenaries that were hunting TLW ruthlessly due to the contract set up after the refusal to blow up Megaton. Unlike the raiders who attacked with primitive weapons, the Talons hit them with some rocket launcher and killed 3 men before being pushed back. The battle was not over before Vertibirds from the Capital Wasteland efficiently neutralized them from the air. 15 Talon merc had died. When Reilly later searched through the remains she discovered weapons never seen before, amongst them was some kind of laser musket.

"How are the progress?" TLW asked while they walked through the open courtyard where they could hear Brick insulting one of the recruits in the background.

"It is better than expected. We have used the weeks efficiently. They know how to clean a rifle, basic commands, how to shoot under duress and cover their fellow soldiers. They are not expert yet but they are more useful than the average man as a soldier."

" That is great, when are you done with them?"

" We can have the first 50 readies for you in two weeks. They will fill the role as basic soldiers, for the better-trained one we are still 2-3 months away."

TLW made a simple calculation. The brotherhood was also training steels to the heavy work. Cleaning up the south sector and actually fighting. But the most urgent need now was for soldiers for guard duty. With 50 more in rotation, some of the guard posts that were on normal mobilization could now go in 3 times a day 8-hour rotation shift, and still, have one soldier off duty every day. Also, there would be more patrolling at the tent camp and the northern streets that were cleaned up.

"The basic need now is general, not specialized manpower. Can you give me the first three classes for general purpose then start with the specialization training? Of course, if there are some talents you can keep them longer but we need more men fast.

"No worries, within the next months you will have 150 fresh soldiers," Reilly replied.

The continued the rest of the tour around the base. It was a wise decision to put it outside the fortifications. Use of grenades and firepower was used frequently and here a stray bullet would not hurt anyone. They could also go for long marches, patrolling the area and scouting potential new locations. As the tour was over TLW walked back to the Vertibird to see the last supplies from the Capital Wasteland was emptied out.

As the Vertibird touched down in front of the abandoned Capitol building TLW could see from his place that there was somebody waiting for him.

"Hey, i was just looking for you" Donovan said the same moment TLW jumped out-

" Whats happening Donovan.?"

" There are some usual guests at the entrance, the guards are not sure what to do with them. They asked for the hero of the wasteland."

TLW hated that nickname. Tree-dog up at the radio station had almost praised him as a savior of the wasteland. The truth was that he did just what he believed was right, not unlike any of the Brotherhood of Steel or the Regulators, or anyone else that did not like killing, raping or stealing. But as Lyons had once told him, the world needed heroes now. No matter how real or unreal they were.

" Lead the way," TLW answered. He took a look at the entrance of the museum where one of the ghouls was guarding the entrance. They had made an agreement with Lyons that they will stay out of each other business and the ghoul would have jurisdiction over the Underworld. But with one clause. The humans could send expeditions to the lower areas to gather things that had a historical significance. Abraham Washington had already gone down three times into the lower levels with some men and come back with books, statues and things that could share a light of the history of this land. In return, no sentient ghouls would be turned away at the gates of the Wasteland but allowed to go the Underworld. They turned right and walked upwards the half-empty streets. Some people were walking with baskets of items, scavenging the buildings that had been declared safe. After a 10 minute walk, they arrived at the Dupont Metro station, also known as the main entrance. The building next to the entrance had been changed into a registration office that communicated with the main office at the Lincoln Memorial. Some people were going around with documents and typing in names into computers. On the other side, there was a large guard station were some guards were sitting, eating their meal. The gate fence was opened by a soldier as soon as he saw TLW and Donovan arriving.

The metro station had been transformed in the last months. The office next to the ticket booth was now a doctor office where new arrivals were medically checked before entering the Capital Wasteland. Down the escalator where the perron and tracks once were was now a crowded area with chairs, benches, some, and a makeshift kitchen. This was the transition hall where people waited to get called in for the doctor office and then registration.

" There she is," Donovan said while pointing at a group of people standing next to the broken escalator.

They were eight of them. 3 female and 4 male. They brought with them four brahims that were fully loaded and were placed on top of the platform bridge that connected the two entrances. Unlike most wastelanders, they were dressed with a clean white short and had a medic belt around them. A girl with a ponytail and with the sides shaved stepped forward

" I am Annabelle of The followers, I would like to talk with one of your leaders," she asked.

" You can talk to me," TLW said.

" And who are you?" she asked.

"The call me many names, but The Lone Wanderer can do, or TLW for short."

"Is that really you. The guy that beat the Enclave, brought water and hope to the Wasteland. The man that made sure that grass for the first time in 200 years is sprouting? "

" And once eat 6 iguana-on-a-stick under less and than a half-hour."

Silence...

"That was a joke." he clarified.

"Oh, of course, forgive me. Is there a place were can talk privately.

"Donovan, can I use the doctor's room ?" The room was right next to the gate.

" Go ahead, no patient in there now. I will stay out here in the meanwhile."

They walked the short distance into the medical office. The room was cleaned up with several syringes of Stimpack, Med-X and other medicine looked into a cabinet.

" So what can I do for you? Or rather, why are you here? You don't look like normal people seeking safety.

" I am a follower of the apocalypse, have you heard about us?" she asked.

" I can't say that I have."

" We are an organization that was founded on the other side of this land many years ago with a purpose of educating humanity about the horrors of the Great War, and never to repeat those atrocities again. Three years ago we heard about signs of civilization on the other side of the coast. Our leaders decided to ask for volunteers that could make the journey through to teach them. I volunteered. For three years I have walked trough storms, slavers, dessert, and hunger to get here. I hoped that there was some sort of city or village that would accept my help, but this, this is so much more.

We came here with wisdom in medicine, history a technology.

"I have to admit, this sound to good to be true. The other side of the land? Do you mean California?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Lived in a vault where they had maps and books."

"Oh, then there is much I have to tell you. Have you heard about Tandi and something called NCR?...

Donovan checked his clock. Three hours they had been in there. Donovan had to check twice that they were still talking, and every time it was confirmed by TLW who listened almost in trance to the things that this Follower said.

After a long time, he finally came out of the room.

"Let them in, i believe that these people are here to help."

"As you say" Donovan confirmed and gave a nod to the soldier watching the station from the booth that previously that was used to sell tickets. He screamed down to the entourage who started moving their things and led their Brahims towards the gate.

"This way too the mall," he said while they started to follow him.

"So this is former Washington D.C, the capital of the whole United States of America?" she asked while she admired The Washington Monument in the distance.

"So they said, we sacrificed lots of people to make this a city again. But now at least we're paying the price in sweat and not blood."

" So is this a country of Brotherhood of Steel, are they in charge?"

That was a good question that he actually had discussed with Elder Lyons many times.

"No, They were the one that made this possible, and they were the one that provided the safety when we needed it the most, but this a nation of the people that live here. You have to remember that this chapter of the Brotherhood is only a part of the organization in the name. Lyons does not take orders from Maxston or any other place. Just like the NCR you are talking about." TLW finished. This divide had actually led to a split in the Brotherhood, with several deserting and forming a new faction called the Outcasts. They had not been seen for a while in the area.

"NCR is a country that falls for the same traps that their predecessors did, to not say that it does not follow orders from people with their own interests will be wrong. But your city, it's just born and I hope I can prevent you from doing the same mistakes as the NCR." Annabelle finished her sentence.

"And what kind of mistakes have they done?" TLW asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer to this kind of questions.

"Corruption, political inbreeding, and the inability too see their own limitations," Annabelle answered with. She continued. "Since Tandi died the new Presidents have been nothing else than colonist conquerers. Last time I heard something there was a big battle between NCR and the Legion."

He remembered them. Sentinel Lyons and some of her men had been sent west to check out the threat. Although an army of such size would take years to get to the eastern seaboard.

"Anyway, where do you want to set up the base?" TLW asked.

"Are you sure that it's okay that we are here, you Elder would not disapprove?" Annabelle asked.

"No, I have helped him destroy the Enclave, made the Super Mutants threat extinct and killed so many raiders camp that he won't doubt my decisions."

"Then I hope too set up somewhere central to the Mall, we are hoping to be both a hospital and an education center."

"I think I then have the perfect place for you."

It took them not long to arrive at their destination.

"Are you asking me to leave?" Abraham Washington asked?

"Not at all, just if they could use the east wing with entrance to the Mall."

" But why, I used months to finally collect all the important historical things, and to create a museum here."

" Listen, I personally will make sure that this building will be renovated and that you will have a full worth museum if you help me, and these people can also help you. They have knowledge far beyond everyone here." TLW took his hand on Washington's shoulder.

Annabelle who stood behind TLW interrupted the conversation.

" Nice collection Mr. Washington, but did you know that the Declaration of Independence was not sent by airplane since it was over 100 before the invention of the airplane and that it was signed the 4th of July and not the 1st as you have written."

"How..how..did you know that?" Washington asked.

"Because of the encyclopedia of American history I have with me, written in 1994, with more historical accuracy than anything you have. I can let you borrow it if you like."

Washington was mute.

"Then welcome my dear," he said giving Annabelle an awkward hug.

It did not take long before The followers made an impression on the mall. With superior knowledge in medicine than almost any of the doctors in the Wasteland, Annabelle used her time to teach many of them to improve their skills. She also had brought with her a Mister Gutsy with advanced surgery parameters installed and dentist equipment, although dental hygiene was low down on the priority list.

For the first time, The Mall actually had the surgical capacity. Her co-followers were also useful. One of them set up a classroom in the rooms and started to teach the children. The auditory was also used sometimes for crash-courses in things that needed to be learned quickly, for example, plumbing, and agriculture for the new farmers that wanted to start to develop the land.

The two others used their time between being doctors or helping the scribes in Arlington. But there was still one problem.

They were starting to run out of medicine.


	6. The messenger and the lost ones

TLW did not remember the last time he slept as good as he did this night. The fresh bed linen and pillow sheet felt like heaven. It reminded him of the time in the vault where the reality of the wasteland was kept out by steel and rock. The sun was shining but stopped by the curtains that were hanged up on his room. He jumped out of the bed and looked himself in the mirror. A much more fresh looking man than just three weeks ago when he visited the local forward base out in Desert. Since then another building was renovated and more people started moving in. Around 10 pct of the population now lived under a solid roof. Not only that but the hygiene and health standard has also increased tenfold. Annabelle and her fellow doctors had started screening people and discovered and treated over 200 different illnesses. Including 8 chirurgical procedures that all was successful. With more healthy people came more efficient production.

After the new batch of recruits was freshly incorporated into the security routines that again gave more security around the area. The raiders had completely given up and have not been since around the walls since their last attack several weeks ago. TLW looked at the watch at his Pip-Boy. In half an hour he had agreed to join a raid into the southern area that still was not fully cleared. The intention was to go all the way to Rivet and clear it upwards to the highway, however, due to difficult terrain it was difficult and 10 men have lost their lives in the ruins. Now it was time for a new push and TLW had agreed to lead almost 30 soldiers into Seward square where the eastern line would go.

He grabbed his equipment and left his room at the Citadel. At the courtyard, a vertibird waited for him.

The trip took less than 10 minutes before it landed on the grassy fields outside the capitol building. From here it was only a short walk. Guards were walking around the area while civilians were doing their assigned task. Some were cleaning up, other carried water and other goods to their destination while some was working on renovating another cleared building that accessed the Mall. He took a turn to the left and walked down an ordinary street until he saw a guard post manned by 3 guards and a mounted turret pointing outwards. End of the safe zone TLW thought. Just some meters ahead a group of soldiers waited for him. All dressed in equipment looted from Talon mercenaries but painted in green for military unison. Most of them were armed with Chinese AK rifles, and sidearms of semi-automatic pistols. Some had also grenades but there were too heavy gunners on the team. One with a Minigun and another with the flamethrower, in case the enemies was bigger than expected. There were two trained medics amongst them.

The team knew what they were doing. All of them experienced after several months cleaning up the northern ruins. The commander, a Steel with the name Brennart explained their tactics and goals with the group, and before long they were on their way.

They walked in two long lines with the heavy gunners in the front and the medics in the back. A scout was sent forward on each intersection. After one hour Brennart gave the order to halt.

" One click away, Super Mutant nest. " He slowly said, quiet but high enough for the rest of the team to hear.

" I will go to take a look" TLW stated and got an approval nod from Brennart. He had missed this. Going alone into the ruins, stumbling over enemies. He just hoped that no Centarius was among the Super Mutants. He really really really hated them. He passed one block without difficulty, nodding to the scout lying on top of a small pile of debris. It was this scout that had alerted Brennart through the radio.

" What you got?" TLW whispered into his ear.

" Three, maybe four of them. Nested themselves into the corner there. They built a barricade around their camp. Armed with bolt rifles."

" Roger that, stay here. Give me two minutes, then call the rest of the squad to move in."

TLW jumped off the debris and crouch-walked the last 200 meters. He saw a large yellowish creature standing guard, but in the opposite direction from him. He checked his rifle. The Lincoln Repeater. The legendary gun of the former U.S President. He had made a deal with Washington to use it only when needed and then give it back to his museum. Now it was needed. He loaded the magnum round until it was full. 15 shots. Against Super Mutants there was no more efficient rifle against their hardened skin. He sat down and took a deep breath. First shot.

He took aim and saw the ugly face of a super mutant covering the sights. He gently added pressure to the trigger until it was pushed back.

BAAAM!

The Super Mutants head disappeared in a red mist, while the body stood for half a second before it also collapsed on the ground. It took another three-four seconds before another Super Mutant came into view.

BAAM!

The headless body fell above his brethren. Now there was no doubt anymore for the rest of the Super Mutants and they came running against his direction. They might have not seen him, but they understood where the bullet came from due to where the brains of the fallen ones were placed. There were three of them, one more than the scout predicted. He had time for one more shoot. It was not a difficult one. The super mutants came running towards him in a straight path.

BAAM!

Third one fell, TLW did not take time to look, as soon as he had pulled the trigger he stood up and ran back towards the pile of debris. Two bullets strayed him and whipped up the dust from the ground. TLW took another two large jumps on the pile and threw his body first behind it. Several bullets missed him or hit the pile.

"HUMAN FILTH!" he could hear one of them say. The two super mutants climbed up the pile of debris, only to find 20 soldiers stand with their rifles pointed at them. Before they could react their bodies fell on the ground in a storm of bullets, dead before they hit the ground.

"Nice one," Brennart said, looking at TLW lying right below where the two super mutants once stood.

Ten minutes later they searched the Super Mutant camp. As always it was not a fun experience. The bags of flesh and meat hanging from hooks on the wall. What kind of meat was anyone's guess, and was not solved before a soldier found an ear sticking out from the ball of flesh and blood?

The poor soldier threw up, getting a laugh from some of his fellow men. TLW took a look at their equipment. Another high tech missile launcher, same as some of the raiders had. Was there an abandoned armory that was raided? After they took with them everything of value they destroyed the barricade and burned the meat and everything else. For TLW the sight of Super Mutant den was nothing new, in the old days of the anarchy they had their nests actually inside the space museum. TLW killed at least 40 of them trying to restore the radio mast on top of the Washington monument. That seemed like ages ago. Now they were on the retreat and quickly found out that the ruins of the capital wasteland were not their home. The only negative about this was that desperate people, or mutants, did a desperate thing. If pushed enough they might be starting going on suicide runs. A problem for another day TLW concluded mentally.

The group walked for another two hours without incident. The was a clear downward trend of hostilities in the sector, but still not enough to go to the next stage.

It was TLW that set his step first in the open square called Seward Square. A bad area indeed, but also the southeast border of the Capital Wasteland. The rest of the team took a position inside the Office building near the large statue of a man surrounded by a ring. TLW knew well that this area was not the safest place in the area. Behind him, the eastern part of the Capitol dome blocked the view. Here the new border would go. When everything was done the demolition team would barricade this area more closely than a border wall between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

He studied the area. The former Rangers compound had been moved a long time ago, and even then it was a completely different route to get there. Last time he was here he had met The Preacher. A crazy man that had more explosives than the Brotherhood combined. If he was still around this area would be a deathtrap. Last time he never found the body of The Preacher, although he was in the middle of a fireball before he vanished.

"Stay here," TLW said the Brennart who gave the same order back to his men. He walked past the statue of the large man, and into the open field. The metro station was right in front of him. It looked clear. No dead men ripped apart by super mutants or no sign of anyone being here for a while. He gave a signal to the group to move out. They spread open and walked in short line towards the metro station where they would set up base. They walked down the stairs, getting ready to raid and secure the station. It was when the last one, the same scout from before was crossing the open Square TLW noticed it. The small red light that had just come on, something was being activated.

"RUN!" he shouted to the scout, who paradoxically freeze on this command, only for a second, but a second was enough. A huge fireball flew out of the base of the statue and landed on the scout. He was dead at the same moment. In the same split second the second to the last soldier that was almost down the stairs fell back. TLW jumped on him and dragged him down the stairs. The rest of the group had taken position along the wall, looking up with weapons aimed.

"Medic!" TLW screamed and soon one of them was looking at the wound. In the shoulder by a laser. Lucky TLW thought. Getting shot in the head with a laser weapon is a painful way to go, but in a non-vital area, it is often preferred. Sure, a centralized beam can head your main artery and boil you inside out, but a more likely scenario was that the wound would be cauterized the same second as the beam penetrated the skin. This was the scenario in this case where the screaming soldier foamed around his mouth while screaming more in pain than fear. Also a good sign. TLW went to Brennart who just had commanded his Minigunner to guard the stairs while the other one was to guard the door into the metro.

" ..we do?" Brennart asked, using all his mental powers to not seem panicky.

TLW analyzed the scenario, no gun sound or no more explosions was heard, and they shoot when the team was almost done crossing the open square why? They could have killed half of the team earlier.

"Stay here, they wanted us cornered and pull us into the metro," TLW concluded.

"Why? They could have killed most of us earlier!"

" That's the keyword, most of us, whoever attacking us, it was not possible to kill all of us in one go, meaning we are standing against a few numbers, maybe only one. Listen, there is no gun sound, no rain of bullets. They want us to go this way!"

"So we stay here? Brennart asked

" For now, the only way to attack us with anything larger is through the stairs and that's in the middle of our clear line of fire."

"Ok, I know..we call in air support!"

" And do what, we do not know where the attackers are, and they might have anti-air missiles if the Super Mutants had it."

" So what do we do?" Brennart asked again.

TLW looked into the doors that lead into the metro entrance.

" Stay here, fortify yourself. I will go through the metro, turn around and find whoever attacks us,"

" But you said!"

" The trap there is for a group, I know better."

Brennart nodded and ordered the men to set up a constant perimeter. He then reached out for his backpack and gave TLW two flares.

"When the area is secure, release these flares so we know it safe".

TLW looked upon his pip-boy and opened the doors into the metro while stashing the flares in his pockets. He breathed heavily, walking into the lion's den.

There were two things that activated a trap. Registration of movement or registration of noise and TLW did not intend to do any of those. The noise was easy enough, a long experience made him efficient in walking silently, however, the registration of movement was trickier, he could not train himself to been seen less unless of course, he had a stealth boy, and TLW was always prepared. He took up the small oval transmitter that transmitted reflected light from one side of an object to the other, in this case, the object was himself. After a second he became much difficult to see, looked like a transparent humanoid shape. He started walking slowly forward. The station was almost fully caved and significantly damaged after years and years being abandoned. However, the structure was like the other station he had passed through. There was an office at first, and then what seems to be a waiting area or an engineer's locker room, as well as a couple of bathrooms. Then he came to the main bridge that leads down towards the station and tracks. As he was crouching not to be spotted, he moved towards the rail and took a peek down.

He almost gasped of the sight.

Thousand of ghouls, all feral, including some glowing ones, standing down at the station and the tracks, all growling and hissing, waiting for their next meal. A panicked team of 30 would definitely make enough noise to get their attention. No one in the world would withstand that rush and most likely be dead within 30 seconds. No wonder they wanted to push them into the metro. TLW walked slowly across the bridge that connected the two entrances. A small misstep and the ghouls would run up the stairs and that would be the end. He looked at his stealth boy, he got 5 more minutes. Enough time.

He strolled through the kiosk booth and to the other side.

First, when he got into the tunnel leading upwards he started relaxing a little bit. The sound of hungry ghouls becoming a little bit more quieter. He saw the exit gate only 100 meters ahead when he stopped. Something was wrong. Such a delicate trap had too much flaw. It was a small probability that the victims actually managed to sneak behind the ghouls and that they were as equally lucky that all of them was at down at the tracks. Whoever designed this must have done something to secure that no one came out. And what better place than right before the exit, when people would most likely lower their guard a little bit.

Indeed, between the ticket booth and the gate TLW saw a thin thread, almost impossible to spot, just a foot over the ground. He studied it carefully and saw that the tread leads to flashbang taped to the side of the gate. When triggered it would give a noise high enough to provoke the horde of ghouls to investigate.

He carefully jumped over the gate and walked towards the double doors that lead to freedom. Locked of course.

TLW took up a lockpick. He had started to become extremely good in picking up locks. His secret was to visualize the lock and feel where the weak spot was.

First, try, fail. The lockpick broke in half.

The second try, he felt it vibrating in his ears, but again it broke.

Third try it opened.

The light hit him in the face and the stairs upwards to the open place looked like a stairway to heaven. He took the steps up to see another open place with an empty square around him. There were ruins in a semi-circle looking towards the entrance, maybe 200 meters away. Bound to be somebody looking at the entrance. TLW took a look at the stealth boy. Only 20 more seconds, not enough to cross the open square without being sitting duck. As the stealth boy wore down he thought of a plan. The doors went outward and were made of either steel or iron. It went all the way to the concrete wall. If he timed it right it might work. He took up his gun, looked at the ticket gate, and aimed for the flashbang. Breathed heavily and in a slow-motion pulled the trigger.

The fuse went off, TLW jumped back, dragged the door and hid beneath the wall and the concrete.

BAAAMMM!

The sound of the flashbang created a small shockwave and a large noise that could be heard from far, and definitely from the tracks. It took a couple of seconds but then TLW heard it. Thousands of running steps from the ghouls investigating the noise. As they saw the open gates and the road into the freedom they ran like a pack of lemurs, up to the stairs and into the open square, ignoring TLW who hid behind the doors. Within seconds the sounds of rapid gunfire were heard, but the flood persisted. As soon as the last ghoul had passed TLW ran up the stairs and jumped up the concrete wall on the side of the metro entrance. He then ran and jumped into the nearest building and hid there. On the square there was still a lot of ghouls running around, many being shot down or in some cases blown up by rockets. From the building straight across the metro station, on the other side of the square, he saw a large burst of rapid-fire tearing down the hordes of ghouls. Had TLW exposed himself he would have been shoot down within a second. There was where the main nest of the attackers must be.

It took him 10 minutes to find a way circling the square. The battle was still dragging on but now consisted of concentrated fire as the main bulk of the ghouls had been put down. Within a couple of minutes, it would be over.

He jumped from the second floor into another building where the wall had collapsed. He was close now, and that made him on guard. He took up his pistol. The repeater was not effective in close quarters. The halls were narrow and dark, and there was no sign of life at first. It was when he crossed a hallway and approached a door leading to the next building he noticed that he was close. In big red colors, someone had written "keep out!" with big capital letters. He opened the door slowly and saw someone had lit up the hallway with flames lighting up from a barrel. Then there were noises. Someone was talking. He sneaked forward until he came to what was once a hotel lobby. From the second floor, he looked down into the big open square and saw five men, all dressed in grey. Grey overalls, grey breastplate, and grey hoods. Next, to the entrance, a large Gatling gun was placed outwards. It must be where the fire burst came from.

"How did they do it?" one of the men said.

"I don't know, we used three fucking months on gathering them, Pete, Igor and Alyssa fucking died for it!"

"Calm down..." a new voice said, coming from behind the earlier reception desk. TLW could not see him due to he had his back to TLW and a hood over his head.

"Everything is at it was supposed to be." The voice to the man was calm and supporting, it gave a tone of respect and comfort. The other men started calming down as soon as they heard the voice.

"Yes master," one of them said while saluting the man in a strange way.

" We have done everything according to plan. The Mall people will not interfere with our work. We will find it."

At the same time a door on the second floor, parallel to the one TLW came out from the opening. The gray-hooded man that came out it had TLW in his direct view. The surprising sight gave TLW a window of opportunity for a second. That was all he needed. He took two shots at the man, who immediately fell down, halfway of drawing his weapon. The gray hooded men down on the lobby reacted also and started firing upwards on the balcony. The bullets pierced the woodwork and forced TLW to jump on the floor.

"Hold your fire" the man with the calm voice ordered. The fire stopped. He then directed his words towards TLW.

" I can take a guess on who you are. You are the man they call The Lone Wanderer."

Silence.

" I take your silence as confirmation. You know, we have met before, a year ago I think."

TLW tried to take a peek and saw now a hideous man, burned alive almost. at least on the half of his face. The goatee beard contradicted his bald head and his olive brown skin that had been herded by years of exposure in the sun and dust.

" You might have heard my preaching at that time, right before you took my convert away and blew me up."

TLW now remembered, he was The Preacher. The lunatic that had rigged a whole backyard with explosives. He had talked nonsense, now he sounded like a scholar.

" You left me for dead, but I do not blame you. I was supposed to die that day. But he gave me another chance, and he told me to find our Paradise. As I woke up I felt like a new man, my thoughts were pure and my mind was stronger, something had changed in my head. I was given a new chance. A new pack to lead! A chance that you will not interfere with! Men, kill him!"

The Preacher then walked out a side door while the grey hooded soldiers started shooting again. One of them ran up the grand stairs to try to flank TLW but did not realize that they were exposed and suddenly at level with the sight of his revolver. The grey hooded man fell down as one bullet hit his neck, falling on the side, putting his hand on the wound on a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. The other four started walking back to get a better line towards TLW that was still pinned down behind the woodwork of the railing.

He went into his meditation mode, and suddenly the world stopped moving and silence arrived. He quickly glanced and saw that the four of them was taking cover behind a bar desk. There were bottles on the shelf there. Most likely hard liquor. TLW shoot a burst and the bottles crushed pouring alcohol all over the place. He then took another round, all in a matter of seconds. The alcohol took fire, just as expected. TLW went out of his meditation mode and the world came alive again. The flames quickly spread and he could hear one of the grey hooded men started screaming. His left arm on fire. The other soldiers, clearly distracted by this turned their attention away. TLW took the opportunity and fired four bullets. They were easy targets and fell down. TLW used one extra bullet to put the burning man out his misery. The flames started to spread. It would burn down the room but likely not anything more. The rest of the building was pure concrete.

He ran towards the door where the first grey hooded man had arrived from and further down the hallway. He jumped down to the first-floor trough an open hole where the stairs once were. He then relaxed for a moment before starting following the path again. As he walked counter-clockwise around the open square he could see the smoke and the flames sticking out from the Gatling gun nest. It took him another ten minute to find the way the grey hooded men used to pass the metro station back to Seward Square. It did not take him a long time to find the sniper nest, and after a one-sided gun battle, following a quick but effective intervention by the surviving grey hood sniper, he then took the flares.

Everything happened fast afterward. 30 minutes after the first Vertibird landed with reinforcement. The wounded soldier was MEDEVAC while Brennart gave the order to seal the entrance into the metro. Within 2 hours there was workers, scribes and everything else at the square. While soldiers were swiping the buildings for ghouls and other threats. The passage that the grey hooded men were fortified. They also took a sweep on the hotel that had burned down but did not find anything else than six charred bodies.

"So the Preacher escaped?" Brennart asked, hearing the full details of the situation.

"For now. We will see if the prisoner will talk and reveal something about him."

" It sounds strange the whole thing. A man bound to die in an explosion come back, smarter and with more guns and followers."

"Indeed" TLW confirmed while sitting on the bench on the foot of the statue that once dominated Seward Square. "I do not like this. He talked about finding Paradise and that someone had given him a second chance."

"Well, the brain is a mysterious thing, an explosion could have given a concussion that did something to his brain."

" Maybe Brennart, maybe."

" Anyways, this is a day to remember. With the conquering of Seward Square, the campaign to retake the south-east sector is finally over. We will start sweeping some buildings and start cleaning, but with the perimeter secured it will be small time work."

"Good, maybe we can celebrate his work here." TLW pointed at the statue and the scout that was crushed by it."

"Indeed a sacrifice that will be recorded," Brennart confirmed. TLW stood up and started walking towards the Vertibird. The night was coming.


End file.
